Chapter 165: Lead the Way!
“Wah…”
From the distant bushes, Gu Qingqing peeked out half her head, her pair of dark round eyes observing the battlefield atop Flowing Cloud Cliff.
“Senior Brother Song… is terrifying.”
She scratched her small face with some trepidation. “What if he gets angry and beats me?”
Ever since she had sent Song Yan away via the teleportation talisman at Qingjiang Flat, the three of them had scattered in the face of pursuit from multiple parties, each fleeing in a different direction.
Gu Qingqing had chosen the most remote direction—the southwest.
She had not expected to encounter Senior Brother Song again so soon.
As it happened, she had stumbled upon this ambush targeting him.
In the blink of an eye, those three had departed in peace.
Her instincts urged her to step forward and greet Senior Brother Song, but upon reflection, she realized she had played a part in the scheme to send him away.
She was now filled with regret—tremendous regret.
“I should flee before Senior Brother Song notices me…”
Gu Qingqing had made up her mind, only to discover that Song Yan’s figure had already vanished from Flowing Cloud Cliff.
“Huh? Where did he go?”
She looked all around but could not find a trace of Song Yan. “He left so quickly.”
“Forget it. Running is the best strategy.”
She slowly shrank back into the bushes, ready to turn and leave.
A pair of warm hands gently patted her shoulder.
“Junior Sister Qingqing, it has been a while.”
“Oh heavens!”
Gu Qingqing bounded in place like a startled little rabbit.
Hearing that familiar voice, she turned around in a frantic tangle, only to have her lower back strike a branch in the bushes, trapping her.
“Uh… heh heh, Senior… Senior Brother Song.”
She stammered as she tried to back away, discovering a rock behind her.
“What… what a coincidence. Why are you here? We truly… are fated to meet.”
Song Yan looked down at her from his vantage point, his expression hovering between a smile and something else entirely.
But no matter how Gu Qingqing looked at it, he appeared ready to settle accounts with her.
He raised an eyebrow, and his hand drifted casually toward the girl’s hair bun, leisurely brushing away the bits of grass clinging to it.
“It is indeed a coincidence.”
Only Song Yan’s voice carried a somewhat somber tone.
“I was previously hurled into the wilderness by a certain junior sister using a teleportation talisman. It took me considerable effort to make my way back, and now, upon turning a corner, I run into you here…”
“It was Senior Brother Li’s idea!”
Gu Qingqing suddenly straightened her back, her small eyes darting about. “He said he wanted you to focus on facing a powerful enemy, and that you should witness the cruelty of the world!”
As she spoke, she stole glances at Song Yan’s expression.
Her fingers fidgeted uneasily with the sash of her ru skirt. “I originally disagreed…”
Song Yan said nothing, but his hand swiftly reached down.
She yelped in fright, clapping her hands over her eyes.
However.
The knuckle-rap she had imagined never landed. She cautiously parted her fingers, only to meet Senior Brother Song’s half-smiling gaze.
He suddenly pinched Gu Qingqing’s small face.
“That bastard Li Fatty—where is he now?”
“Senior Brother Li fled north at the time. He should be… near the maple forest now?”
The words tumbled from Gu Qingqing’s lips before she could stop herself. She realized what she had said and looked somewhat guilty. “I… I said nothing.”
Song Yan straightened up and flicked his finger against Gu Qingqing’s smooth forehead.
“Lead the way!”
He lowered his hand. From his sleeve, Xiao He wound around the girl’s waist, eyeing the spirit-marked jade token at her hip with covetous intent.
“…”
The girl gritted her teeth and stamped her foot.
Gu Qingqing, oh Gu Qingqing—those who know the times are heroes!
“The situation in the central region must be chaotic right now. If we encounter too many people, it will lead to unnecessary expenditure~”
“Senior Brother Song, I know a short path!”
“This way, please!”
Gu Qingqing’s attitude shifted with remarkable smoothness. Song Yan nodded.
And so, the girl took the lead, while he followed at a leisurely pace behind her.
“Senior Brother, may I make a request?”
“Speak.”
“When we encounter Senior Brother Li, may I hide? I fear he will scold me.”
“Very well.”
“Heh heh, Senior Brother, you are truly kind.”
***
Outside the Grotto Heaven, atop Sword Trial Peak.
The proceedings of the Sword-Tempering Competition unfolded before the eyes of the assembled disciples and elders.
Qin Xijun gazed with some exasperation at Song Yan, who still lingered at the edge of the Sword Tempering region, muttering under his breath, “This brat—he is in no hurry at all.”
She possessed only two Qi Refining disciples: one was Lu Ziye, and the other was Song Yan.
Lu Ziye had announced some days prior that he intended to prepare for Foundation Establishment, and thus had not participated in this Sword-Tempering Competition.
Therefore, she concerned herself solely with little Song Yan’s situation.
Though she had already resigned from her post as Elder, as a veteran Foundation Establishment powerhouse, the sect still prepared an elder’s seat for her at such gatherings.
Worry gnawed at her heart, and the voices of other elders drifted to her ears.
“Before long, the barrier will begin to move again, and Li Yi will likely make his move.”
Only ordinary elders were present here.
Elder Luo Xiaming had departed after announcing the opening.
There were no Peak Master-level elders present, and so their conversation was relaxed rather than restrained.
“This Sword Tempering, I suspect, is merely a formality.”
“Li Yi should secure the A-rank seat without difficulty.”
The final elimination stage of the Sword-Tempering Competition would determine the top twelve.
What the disciples discussed most were the identities of these twelve and the possibility of who would claim first place.
But among the elders’ topics, aside from the top three, it mattered little who occupied the remaining positions.
“Indeed. Over the years, aside from that boy Xu Ziqing, the only other to be admitted to the Demon Subjugation Peak during the Qi Refining Stage through exceptional circumstances was him.”
“Yuwen Yao of Lotus Seclusion Peak is also formidable. Among them, she may be the only one who can wrestle with Li Yi for dominance.”
All tacitly avoided mentioning Kong You’s name.
Kong You was undoubtedly gifted, but in terms of overall strength, compared to the truly outstanding Li Yi and Yuwen Yao, he fell slightly short.
As for Song Yan—aside from Qin Xijun and Xu Ziqing, who had crossed paths with him before—no other elder likely paid him any attention.
The current rankings of the top twenty-two were visible to all.
[First: Li Yi, eighty-nine markings.]
[Second: Yuwen Yao, sixty-seven markings.]
[Third: Kong You, forty-two markings.]
…
[Twelfth: Lin Qing, thirty-one markings.]
…
[Seventeenth: Song Yan, twenty-six markings.]
…
[Nineteenth: Shao Sichen, twenty-two markings.]
…
[Twenty-second: Li Qingfeng, fourteen markings.]
[Remaining cultivators within the barrier: one hundred and twenty-eight]
These one hundred and twenty-eight individuals almost universally harbored the ambition to vie for a place among the top twenty-two.
Cultivators who advanced to the next elimination stage would receive generous rewards from the sect, even if they withdrew thereafter.
This was the fundamental reason driving cultivators to compete so fiercely.
These one hundred and twenty-eight individuals generally possessed some degree of combat prowess, and had likely already won victories in prior skirmishes.
Everyone understood clearly that the pace of the Sword-Tempering Competition would only accelerate from here.
The brutality of the contests would likewise intensify greatly.